Advice on a new computer

[Cat_Driver]

IMO...it is the way (media software) applications work with personal computers than make Mac's the better choice...it's what all (or most) professional image.video editors use...

BTW...exactly when did you sell APPL (common) shares for 25.00???...just curious...!

Aug 2009, with Obama gaining ground and I KNEW he was coming in - it scared me. Right or wrong we all know it's a gamble. I told my advisor to sell everything at the time anticipating the crash. The crash happened and I stayed out. He said I should get back in right after the crash I said NO THANKS. I should have, but I didn't have the huevos to gamble, Hind is always 20/20. I figured a bird in the hand.....

 

[Cat_Driver]

Excuse me if I don't click on that and depend on over thirty years of working with OS's instead. I have many computers of both types for various reasons.

Do you buy from Amazon or at least check out the reviews on any items you might want to purchase? If you do, you'll see that for every item for sale on the face of the Earth, there are both good and bad reviews. If you heed the bad reviews, you'll wind up buying nothing at all, ever. No, what you probably do is look at how many people have given their reviews and look at the percentage of happy customers versus unhappy customers. If there are many more happy than unhappy, you can be reasonably sure that the item in question is probably going to be satisfactory. Also, the brand or model that gets the most reviews is usually the one that sells the most. Compare then, Mac's share of the market compared to PC's. We assume that most computer buyers are not stupid and the majority of them will migrate to what gives them the most value for their money. Given this huge difference in share of the market, one might weigh the evidence and make the choice of which to buy based on that, rather than anecdotal forum replies, where bias plays a heavy role.

BTW, the latest iOS that I downloaded onto my iPad? Sucks, and it's nearly ruined what is otherwise a nice machine. Want me to post a link to that screwup? Nah...that's not the point.

One thing is you can run Windows on a Mac, and you can not run Mac ISO on a PC - advantage Mac.

 

[/pine]

Include "NUX" in that and I'm with you all the way.

When I say "nix"...that includes Linux...it's phonetics...! :thumbsup:

If you are a real computer guru, and are willing to put a lot of time and energy into your computer, Windows is the way to go. And it is less expensive.

I disagree...IMO...even if you are not at the "guru" level...(just a savvy user) and you have a little time to learn something different...Linux is the "way to go" and it's 100% free as well as the software that is capable of doing anything commercial operating systems and software can do...often quicker and easier...!

Learning to use a CLI will teach you how personal computers function in short order...
Anyone that enjoys personal computers as a hobby...beyond e-mail and checking their social network sites...can learn how to write shell scripts (using simple system language) that will empower them so far beyond "point and click" typical crash (BSoD) artists/users...they will not believe how much (computer) power they can yield over anyone that has only used a GUI O/S...

Discover the power of a personal computer and give Linux a shot...BTW...most Linux users are super friendly and accommodating...just ask...

...FWIW...I can do stuff today with a 386/486 that a majority of users can't do with the most expensive PC currently on the retail market...

 

[CurlyDave]

...At home I want something that works, functions well and doesn't require my work place IT team to keep it running. I don't give a rip about image. I care about reliability and performance. My two iPhones (one that is 4.5 years old) and iPads work perfectly. I'm seeking the same performance in a laptop or desktop computer.

Go squeeze some fish. (0:

You mentioned spreadsheets in your original post. Microsoft sells MS Office for both Mac and Windows, but being Microsoft, they left one trap for the unwary Mac user in it. If you create a spreadsheet on a Windows machine and then open it on a Mac all of the dates will be different by 3 years and 364 days. Same if you create it on a Mac and open it on a Windows box. (Maybe it is 4 years and 1day?)

The reason for this is that dates are stored as a number of days from some reference date. In Windows this is Jan 1,1900. Macs use Jan 1, 1904.

Why did Apple choose such a weird date? Well, you have to go way back to the dawn of the personal computer age. Memory was scarce, and cpu cycles were slow. Due to the rules of the Gregorian calendar we use, 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was. The calculation that transforms the number of days into a date which is displayed is much easier if every fourth year the spreadsheet is going to encounter is a leap year. So Apple opted to start in 1904. Microsoft in started in 1900, and the calculation is slower on a Windows machine.

In newer versions of Excel, there is a preference, at least on my Mac for which date system to use. If I get a spreadsheet created on a Windows machine I have to change this preference to use the 1904 date system, so anything I add has the right dates.

* * * * * *

Of course complex formatting is always iffy when going from Windows to Mac, or vice versa.

This is about the only big incompatibility I have found going from one OS to the other, and I place the problem squarely with Microsoft. Memory is cheap and plentiful in computers these days, and cpus are much, much faster. Excel should be able to keep track of which machine created each cell of a spreadsheet and display dates correctly on either OS.

* * * * * * *

I like my Mac very much, I can use Windows, but hate every second.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I've never liked apple anything since they day they started, because it was so proprietary and overly expensive. Also one of the first assembly languages I programmed in was on a motorola chip that apple used, and it was terrible (no labels, had to hardcode all the jumps). I know that is now ancient history, and I have programmed on newer motorola that was easier than intel based assembly. With that said, windows 8 is enough to make me consider Apple for my next computer, maybe.......

 

[the old grind]

Linux users don't need to learn or tinker with the CLI (dos-like 'terminal) if they're happy with a totally Windows-like user experience. (Native Win apps run in 'Wine' therein if you like EXCEL). I suggest anyone Linux-curious dig out an obsolete (or unused) Win machine and run a 'live CD' session. (Download .ISO and 'burn' (not copy) to DVD, boot from it). I like LXLE for laptops, and use Linux Mint 17 on my power desktop more often than I boot it to XP.

Your old OS won't know it's running on another, borrowing RAM and some HD space for temp cache. (It will run more slowly than a full install, working from the DVD vs the HD.) Many versions have the option to install Linux in a dual-boot configuration from the live session. You'd want to read up on setting up a boot-loader if so, and may want to use a disk partitioning utility prior to installing. Instructions for these are easy to follow and come with the "are you sures" for the tricky bits.

When turning on the computer you would select Win or LINUX from a menu and go from there. I typed a post or two yesterday on another box running an OS that can be run entirely in ram and booted/backed-up to a pen drive ... on a computer with 500MB of RAM & no hard drive. (Firefox is Firefox & works the same on my XP, Vista, Win 2k, and Linux machines.)

What /pine says about 'any old' computer is because open source software has such humble hardware requirements. (Choose a 'non PAE' distro for those 486s, ok? ...)

 

[troutsqueezer]

Wow! Really?! I'm a professional engineer that designs and plans equipment for a very large global auto company. I'm surrounded by computers.

At home I want something that works, functions well and doesn't require my work place IT team to keep it running. I don't give a rip about image. I care about reliability and performance. My two iPhones (one that is 4.5 years old) and iPads work perfectly. I'm seeking the same performance in a laptop or desktop computer.

Go squeeze some fish. (0:

I am a recently retired engineer from Intel where my last projects were Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge mobile. None of my fellow engineers would ever, ever, inquirer about which computer to use on a tractor forum nor any other forum period. Engineers, by their very nature, have a natural curiosity about how things are designed, constructed and the thought processes that went into them. You can be anything you want on the Internet but in my book, you sure don't sound like one. The last thing an engineer wants is the easy way out, not having to think about what he is doing. Moreover, I would think that most engineers would prefer more than one button on a mouse since they are not easily confused by two or more.

Ask yourself: Why did Steve Jobs insist on putting only one button on his mouse?

 

[troutsqueezer]

Addressed that iOS 8.1.x issue already in this thread. The iOS 8.2 which is optimized to work better on the 4s and iPad 2 will be out soon. As far as the rest there is no use arguing with you. You feel the need to come into any thread mentioning anything apple and run the users down. The OP specifically asked about an Apple laptop so people shared their experiences with them. You are the one that seems to have an ax to grind.

Wait, what? Apple is going to fix their OS soon? I hear Microsoft is going to fix Windows 8 soon too. Don't you get it? There's always something to fix, no matter what it is. And yes, since this is a forum, I feel the need to submit an opinion even if it irritates Apple fanboys. And since when is axe grinding a bad thing? How else is one to slice thru all the BS? Here's the deal - all computers are different. Stop globalizing about which type is better than another. Whether you think PC's are crap or you think they are great, you are right. Same for Apple.

 

[hslogger]

Get a mac. More expensive up front, come with software up the kazoo to begin with.
mac Mac Mac mac Mac. I am a caveman when it comes to technology and have been using one since the git go. They don't go bonkers, their support is great and they pretty much don't care about PC viruses.

 

[s219]

Moreover, I would think that most engineers would prefer more than one button on a mouse since they are not easily confused by two or more.

Ask yourself: Why did Steve Jobs insist on putting only one button on his mouse?

That hasn't been the case for over a decade. Their current mouse has multiple button points as well as touch gestures. Of course, being an engineer I just plug in a standard unix three button mouse into my Macs.

While we're on the subject of engineers, I should note that about 85% of the desktop computers used for aerospace R&D in my group are Macs, the other 15% Linux. Supercomputers are all Linux based. You'd get left behind trying to use a Windows box in this environment, regardless of how many buttons are on your mouse.